6 
i 
I Vote for Up-keep of Economic Gardens ... ... $2,200.00 
Expenditure. 
Salaries of Mandore and Coolies ... ... $1,911.36 
Tool s ... ... ... ... 204.40 
Timber, bricks, lime etc. ... ... ... 32 . 33 
Balance ... ... ... ... 1.91 
$2,200.00 
Gutta-Percha. 
26. More attention has been given to this subject than to any other during the 
year, and, for the first time in the history of the Colony, seeds of the true Dichopsis 
gutta were gathered, although for upwards of 15 years efforts have been made to 
obtain them both by ourselves and by the late Sultan of Johore. To Singapore 
belongs the honour of getting the first seeds from a tree in the Gardens which is the 
direct descendant of the original trees at Bukit Timah which gave the first Gutta-Percha 
brought to the notice of Science, and on which the genus (Dichopsis) wa§ founded. 
The Penang trees also furnished several thousand seeds, at near /y the same time 
Interesting as this success is, we should have made comparatively little progress had 
we been dependent on seeds alone, f am glad to say, however/that some forty-one 
thousand saplings have been obtained, and either /planted out directly in their perma- 
nent positions, or put in nursery beds for future planting. It must, of course, 
be expected that a considerable number of these will succumb, but putting 
the failures at 50 per cent., which I believe will prove an over-estimate, 1 
think we may be satisfied that a distinct advance has been made. Of the 41,660, 
16,000 were sent to Penang; a little over 10,000 to Malacca; and the balance 
16,007 have been kept for stocking Bukit Timah. I am glad to record that 
Mr. BurN-Murdoch, the Chief Forest Officer, who inspected the work at Bukit 
Timah, expressed his approval of what had been done. As regards the exact deter- 
mination of the different species much has been done, although it is admittedly a 
difficult genus to determine. The Director in last year’s report discussed the pro- 
bability that Dichopsis gutta and D. oblongifolium are one species, the leaf variation 
being more or less identical in both types. There is however no doubt on this point, 
that D. oblongifolium is the species that has yielded the chief supply of gutta Taban 
for many years, and although there is a great amount of leaf variation in that species 
the practised eye can easily recognize it from other species such as D. borneensis, D. 
pustulata, D. Treubii, and others. The critical studies of Messrs. Schlechter and 
Sherman, who spent some months studying this genus both here and in Java and 
Borneo, have been of much assistance to us. Their conclusions, which are in accord- 
ance with ours, are, that the two best sorts to cultivate are D. oblongifolium and D. 
borneensis, and of the two the former is preferable as it grows more readily, and is 
indigenous here. 
Planting in Forest Reserves. 
27. The Mandor in charge at Bukit Timah suffered severely from fever, as also 
did his wife and family, so that they were obliged to leave the new quarters erected in 
May. The quarters in question are placed on an apparently healthy site close to the 
road leading to the top of the Hill. I attribute the fever to the disturbance of the 
soil during the erection of the building, and believe that the place will gradually be- 
come healthier. The coolies who live in lines immediately behind the Mandor’s quar- 
ters also suffered from fever, but not to the same extent as the Mandor. The only 
work done with regard to the trees planted in previous years was clearing the ground 
round them, so that the coolies were chiefly employed in. prep tring ground for and 
planting out gutta percha saplings. - 
Vote. 
Planting in Forest Reserves ... ... $300 00 
Expenses of Planting Gutta-Percha and Para Rubber 
(according to the Printed Estimates) . .. 300 00 
Further extended on two occasions ... ... 4,000 00 
$4,600 00 
